1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thimble mechanism for retention of a shackle in a wire rope loop termination.
2. Prior Art
There are a wide variety of terminations for metal wire rope which serve to discourage fraying of the end of the wire rope and serve to permit connection to a load.
One such wire rope loop termination is accomplished in a number of manners. In one configuration, a clamp or clip is used to fix the loose end of the wire rope back to itself to form an oval or a loop. An example of a wire rope clip may be seen in Assignee's U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,680 titled “Two-Piece Bolt and Saddle for Wire Rope Clips”.
In another configuration, a swage termination is formed by mechanically compressing and deforming a fitting. An example of a swage termination may be seen in Assignee's U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,692 titled “Two Pass Method and Apparatus of Forming a Hexagonal Swage for Wire Rope Terminations.” Finally, an eye splice may be utilized as an alternate termination.
When there is a concern that a wire rope loop may bend too tightly under a load, a thimble may be utilized inside of the wire rope loop to preserve the shape of the loop, and to protect the wire rope from pinching and abrading on the inside of the loop. The thimble also prevents the load from coming into direct contact with the individual wires of the wire rope in order to spread the force of the load.
Various types of shackles are often used to connect a load to a wire rope loop termination. Standard shackles include a body or bow and a pair of extending legs. Each leg terminates in an ear or end to form a pair of opposed, aligned openings for receipt of a shackle bolt. When in use, the body or bow of the shackle are engaged with the wire rope loop termination.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a thimble mechanism to encourage retention of the shackle in the wire rope loop termination after installation.
It would also be desirable to provide a thimble mechanism with a thimble which retains a shackle in the thimble after a wire rope is installed around the thimble.
It would also be desirable to provide a thimble mechanism for retention of a shackle in a wire rope loop termination that may be employed with any standard shackle design.
It would also be desirable to provide a thimble mechanism for retention of a shackle in a wire rope loop termination utilizing a retainer pin that locks the shackle in place and that itself is locked by the wire rope loop in the thimble.
It would also be desirable to provide a thimble mechanism which retains a shackle in a wire rope loop termination so that the shackle cannot be removed from the thimble mechanism after the wire rope is moved into place.